By The Water
by MintIceTea
Summary: The island was quiet, even when his visitor stopped by with all her questions. (B-day gift for TheFoundersDaughter/thataustraliangoth) Mermaid AU.
1. The Island

The small boat rocked dangerously as he stepped into it. More worried about his cargo than himself he stilled. Only once he sat down on the wooden bench seat did he risk pulling his wand out and lighting it. A soft light spell of his own invention, it should not draw attention from the residents of the castle – if anyone was awake this late. Severus snorted to himself, the witching hour, the Muggles called it. The only "witching" he'd be doing tonight would be achievable with a Muggle torch if he had one.

The lake was still for the most part, the winds from the shore, as he made his was across. His destination was one of the small islands that dotted the lake. Many of the islands were just rocky sandbars near the shore, but there were a few that housed some trees and miniature beaches. It was one of these that had become their meeting place.

He had first discovered the place when he was desperate to get all from his housemates, as well as Potter and his lackeys. It took too much effort for them to follow him out onto the lake, and so he found peaceful hours of solitude. The chill and potential punishments if he was ever caught were worth quiet, and his occasional visitor

He tugged the boat onto shore, tying it off to a tree, and leaving his shoes on the bench seat. He rolled the legs of his trousers up to his knees before gathering up the cargo. Picking his way over the beach to where a large rock sat beside a deep pool. He let his legs dangle in the water, setting the cargo on his lap. A wave of his wand sent a shower of sparkling lights dancing across the water like skipping stones.

Invitation sent, he waved his wand again, turning it into a light to read by and opened the book on his lap. It wasn't long before the water at his feet rippled and a headful of kinked hair appeared above the waves. Severus always suspected that it would be a wild mess of curls if it was ever allowed to dry. The moment her mouth cleared the water she was talking, so fast that instead of English it came out as shrieks.

"Hermione! Shut up! Slow down before you make my ears bleed!" He snapped, gently prodding her in the shoulder with his foot.

She bared her sharp teeth at him but took a moment before speaking again. "Sorry." She pulled herself up and rested her chin on her crossed arms which she had braced upon his knees. He made a half-hearted complaint about her soaking his trousers but she ignored it. She eyed the book he brought. "What did you bring today?" she asked, her tail twitching just beneath the surface in her curiosity.

He turned the book so she could see the cover, illuminating the words as Hermione took her time mouthing them out. She was a clever thing. Severus had not heard of many mermaids teaching themselves English, or requesting to someone to teach them how to read. To be truthful, her name wasn't Hermione. But while she was able to speak English with near fluency, Severus' attempts to speak Mermish weren't as fruitful. So Hermione it was, she had agreed it was close enough anyway.

She made a sound of disgust that drew him out of his musings. "I don't know this word, Sev'ris." She tagged a webbed finger on the word in question.

"I says 'vampires'. It's about creatures that have roots in humanity. Like werewolves and ghosts and the like." He let her flip the book open on his lap, careful not to drip on the parchment. "Do you want to read it yourself, or would you like me to read to you?"

"Oh, you read, please!" She wriggled and grinned up at him. "I love it when you read. You've got a wonderful reading voice."

He turned the light to the pages so that she wouldn't see him blush. "A-alright. 'In this world there are plenty of creatures that view humans as prey…'"


	2. After Summer

He had found the story amusing. It wasn't a wizarding story. That was obvious. It was a muggle fairytale that he had stumbled upon while poking through a box of hand-me-down books a neighbor had passed onto him. Only a few of the books interested him; an outdated chemistry text, a handful of detective paperbacks, some worn and tattered classics, and the fairy tale. The covers were faded, and there were some childish remarks scribbling in pen across many of the illustrations. But the story itself, he thought, would amuse her.

He spent the remainder of his summer digging through the few bookstores around town looking for a nicer copy. But he didn't end up finding it until the trip to London to buy his school books. To be honest, his mother only had enough to cover a few new school books. But he knew he'd be able to get along without them. There was a housemate a year ahead of him who owed him a favor he could use to get books. So instead he ducked into a muggle bookshop a few streets before Diagon Alley. He spent a good while browsing before he found what he was looking for.

The book wasn't old or particularly pretty, but the writing was simple and brief. The focus of the book was on the detailed illustrations inside. When he passed it to the clerk at the counter the old man chuckled and asked if was for his younger sister. Severus shook his head, carefully counting out the notes to pay. Not deterred in anyway, the nosy clerk continued. "Oh, a present for your girlfriend then?"

Severus looked up in surprise. A little perplexed to realize that he hadn't considered that. Was Hermione his girlfriend? Even with the tails and the gills? Severus managed to mumble something that satisfied the overly curious owner before making his way back out onto the busy streets, purchase carefully tucked under his arm. He couldn't help but think that he wouldn't mind if she was his girlfriend.

* * *

It wasn't until the second week after school started that he was able to make it out to their island, book be-spelled to be water proof. (It wasn't much of a gift if it was ruined by her holding it). She must have been looking out for him, because she startled him by popping up beside his boat halfway there.

"Severus!" She greeted, splashing him as she leaned into the boat. He cussed as it tilted dangerously. She only laughed and slid back under the waves. She swam along beside him as he rowed, happily chatting about what had gone on at the school over the summer. Not a whole lot, though it seems that the astronomy professor was having some sort of affair with the ghoul studies professor.

"Since when do you care about gossip?" He asked as he tied the boat up.

"I don't, but I borrowed their books while they were distracted. Could you fix them, please? They got a little wet." She pulled herself up on the beach, keeping the gill flaps on her hips submerged. There was a chest that they kept on the island, which Hermione used as her own personal library. She opened it and pulled out two rather soggy books. One for each of the professor's subjects. Severus snorted and pulled out his wand to spell them into new condition.

"I brought you something."

"A gift or an assignment?" She brightened. She'd would be perfectly happy with either. Sometimes he would bring copies of his homework assignments for her to puzzle through. It had taken her awhile to become proficient in using a muggle pen with her webbed fingers – three weeks of fighting with a quill and ink had caused her to admit a reluctant defeat.

"A gift. This one is a muggle story, so it's not very accurate."

"Oh!" Her eyes lit up and his heart fluttered in response. "I haven't read one of those before!"

He placed the wrapped parcel in her hands, watching as she stroked the paper, leaving damp spots. "Go on and open it."

She let out a delighted giggle once she had unveiled the cover. "It's about mermaids!" She beamed up at him. "Thank you!"

And before he could respond she was lost in the pages. He shook his head and held his wand so she could have light to read by. With a little shuffling he managed to lay out on the beach to be able to share the light to read by as well. Though his focus was on the school book he had brought. And unlike his submarine friend he was staying dry on the sand.

As they lay there reading, Severus could not help sneaking furtive glances a Hermione from the corner of his eye. Since Lily had begun to fade away from him as they entered their third year, two years ago, Hermione had been his only female friend.

She had taken to nibbling on her lip as she read and he hastily turned his focus back to his reading. He was attracted to her. He adored her curiosity, and her eagerness to just _know_ everything. Her mothering chatter was surprisingly comforting, but also she seemed to know when to he just wanted to sit quietly.

The feelings he had for Hermione were different from his feelings for Lily. His emotions he felt for them were affectionate and warm. But… with Hermione he didn't have the bitter taste of worry. Hermione felt safe to be with.

Maybe that was why Lily's reluctance to be near him didn't hurt as much as it should. Because he had a safe place. He looked over at her and her relaxed continence as she read. She must feel safe with him as well.

"You're very quiet." Hermione said, looking up at him. "Are you alright?" He couldn't look her in the eyes, instead turning his gaze to where her scales reflected the moonlight through the water. She soon turned her attention back to her book.

It took him a while to work up the words that been festering all summer. "A-are you my girlfriend?"

"I suppose so." She answered absently, twisting her hair as she flipped through the book, admiring the pictures again. "But I'm not stabbing your wife to be with you. Or turn into sea foam. What spell does that anyway?"

He snorted at her answer, relived at the lack of outrage. "I have no idea. It must be some kind of dark magic though."

"Hmm. You'll need to bring your mother's old books back out. I think there was a spell in one that was similar, I want to see that again."

"Fine." He stood, brushing off the sand on his trousers. "I'll be back Friday then. Anything else?"

She finally looked up from the book. "Yes. Come here?" She beckoned him back down to her level. When he bent over she reached up, tugging him down so that his lips met hers.

He stared at her wide-eyed. She grinned, all sharp teeth, but a shy coloring danced across her cheeks. "Don't girlfriends do that?"

He could only nod. Her pleased giggles followed him back to the boat.

* * *

As he crawled into his bed one of his roommates stirred and called from across the room, "Where've you been, Snape?"

Severus kept his smile to himself, but the smug tone was plain in his voice. "Went to see my girlfriend."


	3. No Distance

Hermione hadn't seen Severus in _days_ and she was starting to go crazy. Flicking her tail in agitation she tried to turn her focus back to her small collection of books. For the past hour she had been pulling them out, stacking and re-stacking them, trying to will her wandering thoughts back. But the words didn't catch, slipping away from her like eels, and she found herself absorbed in thinking about Severus.

She hadn't heard from him since that lovely night where he asked if she was his girlfriend. Hermione wasn't quite sure what being a girlfriend entailed, other than kisses, but she was a good student. She would learn. She had read lots of books and made good notes.

Now if Severus would just show up so he could clarify things for her! With a final exasperated huff she packed her books back up into her trunk. She slid back into the dark water and floated for a bit. Scowling at the starry sky above. She could hear the chirps and songs of her people and entertained thoughts of joining them. But she didn't want to play, she wanted to _talk_ and she wanted Severus. Twisting, she flipped her tail, sending her down through the water. She swam towards the castle. All the merpeople of the lake liked to swim by and startle the young humans – the Slytherins, Severus had told her. His peers lived in the section where the glass looked below the waves.

It was late, but there were still quite a few students milling about. Hermioine pressed her face to the glass, trying to make out if Severus was in the room. It took a moment for someone to notice her, and when the blonde did she startled at Hermione's toothy grin. The blonde girl signed a question in the choppy hand language the dungeon dwellers used for the mermaids.

_ SEVERUS,_Hermione signed slowly. The girl's mouth twisted in a frown, but she nodded and moved deeper into the dungeons, away from the windows. Hermione waited impatiently by the window, ignoring a few of the other humans that looked at her in curiosity. It seemed to take forever, but the blonde girl finally returned, pushing Severus in front of her. Hermione made an upset croon; one of his arms was in a sling. He didn't look up at Hermione, just muttered something to the girl who signed for him.

_He'll meet you outside._ After that Severus turned and stalked up the stairs.

She swam for the small cove where Severus usually kept the small boat he used to get to their island. She made it there before him, and waited anxiously until he finally appeared through the trees.

"Severus! What happened to your arm? Where have you been? Are you alright?"

"Yes." He eased himself carefully down onto the rocks as close to the water as he could. "I'm sorry."

Hermione frowned, pulling herself out of the water to get a closer look at his arm. "Why hasn't this been healed?"

He carefully pulled his arm from the sling so that she could see. "Have to let it heal without magic since I had taken p\Pepperup before I broke it. The spell would react weird."

Crooning, she hauled herself up until she lay sprawled across Severus' lap. Careful to avoid his injured arm. She smiled at his red face, and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "What happened?"

Severus grumbled before finally admitting that he and James had gotten into another fight. One that was unfortunately near the top of the stairs. So embarrassingly Severus was mostly at fault for his own break. This time at least.

"But come Potions Monday Potter will be in for a surprise," Severus confided. "And Lily won't know it was me because I'll be sitting next to her with a broken arm when his potion goes foul."

Hermione tried to look disapproving. She had never been impressed by the Potter boy. Especially not with all the times she had found Severus drenched from the lake because of them.

She wriggled further, until they lay side by side, his good arm around her. His face flushed, but he smiled shyly at her when she caught his eye. "Want me to read to you?" she offered, knowing it would be harder for him to hold the book and light with just one arm. At his nod she sat up, reaching for his book bag and pulling out the book from his history class.

She settled back down, with him holding his lighted wand so she could see. She started reading at the chapter where he had left his bookmark. After a moment she felt his eyes on her. "What?" she looked between him and the book, wondering what she had mispronounced.

"Nothing." He ducked his head and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. "Just content."


End file.
